The third episode of Building the Browns 2021 premiered on May 9.
It is appropriately titled “The Draft Is Here.”
For Cleveland Browns fans that want to relive the 2021 NFL Draft or are curious about the behind-the-scenes activity related to the draft, this is the episode for you.
Here are three things we learned from this episode.
1. Pre-Draft Preparation and Logistics Were Intense.
GM Andrew Berry talked about his wife being due to give birth two days before the draft began (April 27).
Like any expectant father, he was making preparations for the changes taking place in his home and also preparing contingencies for the pending draft.
Everything worked out very well, almost seamlessly.
His wife went into labor the morning of the draft (April 29).
Her labor was quick, and their third child was born Thursday morning.
Andrew Berry and his wife welcomed a baby girl to the world this morning.
He will then be manning the ship for the #Browns in the draft that same night.
Andrew Berry is different. 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/OkcAO5v0kX
— MoreForYouCleveland (@MoreForYou_CLE) April 29, 2021
The other logistical aspect of the draft shared in the episode was where and what the draft war room looked like in 2021.
Berry talked about the logistics after the draft.
“Largely, we communicated on Zoom. The nice thing is all of our offices are within walking distance and are pretty close so if we needed to have smaller conversations or go down to see someone, that was easy enough to do, but just because our draft room was not quite big enough for everyone that we would have in there, we decided how can we be close enough together to share this experience together while also adhering to all of the guidelines and COVID protocols. This was really the best solution where we really operated as if it was a normal day in the office, but for any type of large group meetings, so to speak, we just did it over Zoom. It was nice to have our scouts in, and it was nice to have our scouts and coaches together. It was seamless from an operational standpoint within our draft.”
2. The Draft Picks Got Their Calls.
We were privy to the conversations between the Browns draft picks and GM, coaches, and ownership.
It was really exciting to see these players’ reactions as their life-long dreams are realized.
The fact that the Browns are so transparent and share these conversations with their fans just adds to the fans’ excitement for these new players.
3. Post Draft Activities Were Exciting.
Watching the players come to Berea, meet the coaches, and get oriented with their new team was interesting.
Just like the free agents, all of them appreciate the changing culture in Cleveland.
The common theme for the draft picks is their speed, intelligence, character, and versatility.
The Browns have conducted their business very methodically during the offseason, receiving rave reviews for both the free agency and draft selections.
The #Browns received an A from nearly every sports writer for their draft grade. pic.twitter.com/D19LPyShRc
— MoreForYouCleveland (@MoreForYou_CLE) May 3, 2021
Coach Stefanski complemented GM Andrew Berry post draft and put the draft into perspective.
NEXT: 4 Browns Players Looking To Build Off Their Unseen 2020 Success“Andrew and the crew did a great job. We stayed true to the board and let the process play out. Andrew talked about it earlier, but there are 32 teams tonight that are going to be celebrating the draft class and they are all going to be very excited. We are excited because we stayed true to the process, but we have to let this thing play out. We will see over the course of years how we did. Certainly, Andrew was outstanding setting the board, conducting these meetings and then staying true to the board over these rounds.”
